So, so disappointed in Spider-Man 2 (*Spoilers*)

I hate you.

I doubt there's any way to change your opinion of this superb film. However, I will say that the third movie will have the Hobgoblin. The Hobgoblin was originally the Green Goblin's son, who wanted to exact his revenge on Spiderman for exacting his revenge on the Green Goblin for killing Mary Jane.

Also, this movie had considerably more one-liners than the original. That was one of the big complains people had about it.

CM

I liked Spider Man 2 to be honest. One of the things that has made Marvel heroes so endearing is that they actually have a human side.. human imperfections. They established quite nicely the anguish and torment Parker was going through..

I went into the moving expecting to be disappointed.. but ended up really liking it.

So I suppose my viewing experience was vastly different from yours.

Btw, did you catch the cameo of Stan Lee saving the girl from being hit by falling debris? He had one line.. "watch out!"

---
Michael Tanczos

No matter what it is, nobody seems to be happy unless they have something to complain about.

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Original post by Michael Tanczos Btw, did you catch the cameo of Stan Lee saving the girl from being hit by falling debris? He had one line.. "watch out!"

I missed that, although in the "Raindrops" scene, I was pretty sure Stan Lee walked behind Peter. He was the only person who did...I got the impression the person was going to do something important but then he didn't.

My only complaint about the movie was with the hospital scene. It felt *way* too much like Evil Dead 2. I'm not sure if that's the effect he was shooting for, but its what I felt through the whole thing. Then the chainsaw showed up, and my suspicion was confirmed.

CM

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Original post by Conner McCloud However, I will say that the third movie will have the Hobgoblin. The Hobgoblin was originally the Green Goblin's son...

Incorrect. A lot of people make this mistake I find. Hobgoblin is NOT Harry Osborn. Harry assumes the identity of his father as the Green Goblin.

I did catch the caemo Michael Tanczos, it was incredibly fast and didn't feature his face much at all =)

I'm sorry that I'm "complaining" when an action film was more love story than action.

I thought it was pretty good (although I'm not a long-time Spiderman fan so I don't know if it's true to the comics). The only real gripe I have is the that the whole thing with spidey-losing-his-powers was never really explained. He starts losing his spider powers, goes all geeky and needs glasses again, and then... gets his powers back because his maybe-girlfriend gets kidnapped? What was he lacking? Action? Excitement? Spinach? MJ-snoggage?

Spider-Man II was rated... the best superhero film in a long time, was it not?

By the way, Venom would rock.

If Venom ever made it into a film, I hope he wins.

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Original post by fractoid I thought it was pretty good (although I'm not a long-time Spiderman fan so I don't know if it's true to the comics). The only real gripe I have is the that the whole thing with spidey-losing-his-powers was never really explained. He starts losing his spider powers, goes all geeky and needs glasses again, and then... gets his powers back because his maybe-girlfriend gets kidnapped? What was he lacking? Action? Excitement? Spinach? MJ-snoggage?

I feel they explained it pretty well...it was psychological. He didn't *want* to be Spiderman anymore, so he subconsciously turned off his powers. Even when trying to turn them back on, he didn't really want to. Until Mary-Jane was attacked, at which point he had a pretty clear reason to don the Spiderman role again.

Apparently, I was pretty wrong about the whole Green Goblin storyline, although I got the overall idea right. At any rate, the fact that the third movie would involve Harry was clear in the first film.

CM

I liked it. Pretty much for all the reasons stated.

Be patient young padawan. Venom's coming. Or atleast they set up the story getting ready for the space stuff, and low behold, VENOM!

I just got back from the theater, and I've got to say that it was a pretty good film. Best Super-Hero Film of all time? Maybe. But then again, it doesnt have much to compete with (although the penguins with rockets in Batman kicked ass)...

One thing, though. The scene where Harry unmasks Peter...man, the movie fucking skipped! He broke out of the barbed wire, stood above Harry, was about to say something, and then it skipped to him standing in the same spot, but the scene ended.

WTF? How long was this scene? How important was it? What did they say?

It was sort of funny, though. The entire theater was filled with moans. :D

I also missed the scene right after the doctor sits down and talks to him (I had to go to the bathroom).

God, I suck at movies.

EDIT: as a friend and I discussed, Venom would suck as a villian because he'd be crappy CG nonstop.

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Original post by GroZZleR 3. Spider-Man 3 = Green Goblin again? WTF -- You did the Green Goblin, I don't want to see a repeat of the same character with a different "soul". Wheres Rhino and the Lizard? Even a caemo from Venom, or something. Hell give me the Hobgoblin, but not the Green Goblin again. Yargh.

Why does everyone assume the next movie will have the Green Goblin? I hope the next badguy will be the Lizard... after all, Dr. Connors was shown throughout the movie.

In any event, I thought the movie was pretty good. It was better than the first one, and although it had some really trite dialogue, and some lulls in the plot, overall I thought it was a solid movie. Good character development, especially.

I thought the film was phenomenal. I do not understand how you cannot appreciate the quality and work behind those action shots. They did Doctor Octopus so unbelievably well.. he's really one of the coolest villains I have ever seen on screen.

Yes, there were some things that should have been left in the cutting room, but it is not the dialogue scenes. I thought it was great that the human side was portrayed and developed. It's just that the movie tried to include too many things, which staggers the flow and focus of the narrative. For instance..

- Peter confessing the secret to his Uncle's murder
- Peter's abilities starting to slip
- Harry learning Spiderman's identity
- A train full of people learning Spiderman's identity
- Mary-Jane learning Spiderman's identity
- Jameson's assistant and his small gestures toward Spiderman favoritism
- Etc.

By introducing so many things, it causes too much confusion when there should be only one or two points to focus on.

Also, some scenes such as the laundromat should have been left for the DVD. They do pretty good jobs of fleshing out Peter's daily routine and how it meshes with Spiderman's, but ultimately scenes like that are not very necessary. Trimming the edges would have made the flow of things just a tad nicer.

But, ultimately, the entire movie was one hell of a rush. I loved it.

As for the next? Yeah, they could use JJ's character as a means of bringing back the alien symbiote (thus birthing Venom), but I highly doubt it. Maybe in Spiderman 4. They would have at least introduced Eddie Brock as a background character in the Daily Bugle if they even had a notion of including him soon. Setting up a plot to introduce the character, have him exposed to an alien organism brought back by an unrelated astronaut, obtaining a motive to dislike Spiderman in the first place, and having it all tie in with the developing Green Goblin plot? Forget it. It ain't happening, folks.

But I wouldn't naysay the technical ability to create Venom on screen. Is everyone already forgetting how well Mystique in X-men was handled? The only part of Venom that would require rendering is the face, and transformation shots, which is no big deal at all. The rest is just a bunch of make-up, some minor prosthetics, and some muscle.

You're all wrong. Bruce Campbell will be the villain in the next Spiderman movie, after completely snapping, due to being forced to play demeaning, humiliating roles in every recent Sam Raimi film.

I thought it was flawless. There wasn't a single superfluous scene - every single shot had a purpose and completed an arc, however minor. The laundromat scene wasn't really about laundry, though the pink boxers and socks provided some comic release from all the dramatic tension. It was about Peter reading poetry, per the advice of Dr. Otto Octavius.

Harry learning Spider-Man's identity is key to his metamorphosis into the next Green Goblin. Mary Jane learning Spider-Man's identity is necessary for them to be together: his sense of responsibility precludes him from making this decision to put her in harm's way, so she needs to discover all the facts and make the decision for herself (bonus: they even included MJ's pet name for Peter, "Tiger"). Peter confessing his culpability to Aunty May precipitates the distance and reconciliation between them, which sets the stage for the lesson of the "hero" - the essence of the second movie (the first having been "With great power comes great responsibility").

I don't know what kind of lightweight superhero flicks you want, but if you felt there wasn't enough action or too much drama/"soap opera", there's always Adam West's Batman.

As much as I love Michael Keaton's Dark Knight flicks, Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi have crafted a cinematic interpretation of Spider-Man that is surprisingly faithful, taking only the absolutely necessary liberties and surpassing my expectations at virtually every turn. In short, I'm inclined to agree with Ebert and pronounce Spider-Man 2 the "best superhero movie of all time."

Bonus for the cinephiles among you: Did you notice how the introductory titles basically gave a complete recap of the first film? The guy who did the titles for the first film is Hollywood's go-to guy (he was profiled in the last issue of Wired magazine, IIRC). I wonder if he did these ones; I couldn't find his name in the credits.

Oh, and the Stan Lee cameo was both nice and fitting.


As for Spider-Man 3, I'd have to say that the Lizard is much more likely to be the antagonist than the Green Goblin - or perhaps a story involving both of them? I don't think Venom is feasible, both in terms of the technology (symbionts are extremely amorphous) and in terms of the arduous backstory. Much better to tell that as a completely separate set of films, if anyone is so inclined. Most importantly, Venom is pretty low on the ascendancy of classic Spidey foes. Jack-o'-Lantern? Mysterio? Kingpin? Hobgoblin? Venom may be popular, but he's also relatively new. Give the staple features there due, eh?

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Original post by Conner McCloud My only complaint about the movie was with the hospital scene. It felt *way* too much like Evil Dead 2. I'm not sure if that's the effect he was shooting for, but its what I felt through the whole thing. Then the chainsaw showed up, and my suspicion was confirmed. CM

That's probably because Sam Raimi directed the entire Evil Dead series. And both Spiderman flicks. Go figure.

MSN

Lizard may be in third movie, Venom in the fourth

Just remembered one moment in the film where Harry said 'You killed my father!' and I was just waiting for Peter to say 'No, Harry! I am your father!'

As for the mysterious coming-and-going of powers, I can see (now it's been pointed out) how it was meant to be due to stress and/or inner conflict, but Peter could have had the good grace to look surprised when he got his powers back rather than just going 'well, I won't be needing those [glasses] again!' as if he expected it.

*prays for S2 to not make excessive use of CG*

See: Matrix Reloaded - plasticine Neo.

I thought it was a pretty great movie. I think it incorperated every major theme that spiderman has ever done, all in one movie. Usually that kind of thing doesnt work.

What was the deal with that chick who gave him the chocolate cake? Was that sub plot forgotten about? Who was she?